Harry Gets…Rescued?

The Silvergrey Sea

Part Two: Serious Business

Harry Gets…Rescued?

* * *

When he’d come to fetch Nija Superior to the palace, the lackey for the Warlord had seemed nervous.

That was nothing new. The men of Hyborea were always nervous around free women; free Hyborean women more than most. If they were in authoritative positions, that emotion often edged into fear. Being a Hermetist, Nija was exempt from the treaty that ended the war on her homeworld. She would be lying if she said she didn’t enjoy that, just a little.

This was more than normal anxiety, though.

He stood resplendent in his black and silver livery. The look of fear she had first mistaken for uneasy deference wrinkling his brow and pulling down the corners of his mouth. “Your pardon, Mistress.”

“Yes, Lieutenant?”

“We have Harry Tranker in custody.” He edged into her office and handed her an order.

Finally.

Nija had anxiously awaited Tranker’s arrival ever since she read that report from Noir.

She didn’t look at the report while the other was in her presence. “Very good. Have the garrison informed that I will attend him in fifteen minutes. Dismissed.”

The man fled.

He was bothered for the same reason the rest of the government of Hyborea was—Harry was Hermetist business. That meant trouble unless everyone kept their collective heads down. Except for being the highest court of appeal, the Order of Hermes rarely interfered in local business. If they felt interfered with that could change quickly and most inconveniently. The local politics was rife with graft and petty corruption, something Hermetists generally didn’t care about. If they decided to start caring then heads would likely roll, literally.

Skimming the document, she read the circumstances of Tranker’s capture. The Hermetist Superior of the Kasaskini Chapterhouse hadn’t expected Harry to be nabbed so quickly, or so easily. Local law enforcement had jumped the gun, again. The smart thing to do might have been to make discrete inquiries before making a move on him. Then again, he had no reason to suspect the locals would know of him or his case, much less want to interfere with it. As it happened, they did not.

Nija Superior, however, did.

The Albedo informed her of the birth of the Watr Man, an event for which she had patiently waited decades. Having him then instruct her to look out for Tranker’s arrival had complicated her task.

Now she had to dodge not only her fellow conspirators in the Meraculus Mercurius but the chiefs of the Hermetic Order as well. Being a conspiracy within a conspiracy meant keeping more than one set of lies straight.

Stilling her disquiet, she reminded herself of her mission. The Rebirth must happen. Abram was likely dead by now. That just meant dealing with the private eye.

The Albedo wanted Harry distracted but not hurt. Nija had another goal in mind. With the arrival of the Watr Man, the other Elements must be incarnated. The Erthe Woman might already have arrived. Next was the Fyre Child. Nija knew what to do with Tranker.

She reached out to her contact here in the city and to the one in Kusini to arrange to have Tranker taken, then headed to the palace.

* * *

There he was, chained to the wall of a filthy cell. The bandage wrapped around his head spoke of at least rudimentary care for his health.

Nija asked a guard if he’d woken since his arrival.

No, he hadn’t.

She requested time alone. The other made a quiet exit, leaving the cell door slightly ajar.

Harry was slumped against the wall, wrists manacled too high to allow him to sit, but too low to allow him to stand.

When she’d learned of Drago’s arrival, all Nija wanted from Harry Tranker was that he fulfill his role in the Rebirth. Knowing what answers he had uncovered had been a secondary consideration. After thinking about it, she wondered if what the private eye knew might after all make a difference.

She contemplated just freeing him but decided she first needed to know how much he knew about Drago and about the Meraculus Mercurius. If it was enough, she could stick with the plan to have him assist the emergence of the Element of Fyre.

“Guard,” she called loud enough to be heard in the hall.

He came at a run. “Yes, Mistress?”

“Get this man to a decent cell. And fetch the chirurgeon.”

— Gideon Jagged
Innsmouth, September 2026

© Gideon Jagged
All Rights Reserved